Program Fights Texting & Driving

Texting and driving kills more than 5,000 people each year, and injures about another 450,000. The National Save a Life Tour aims to end that trend. Representatives from that effort visited Lincoln University’s campus in Jefferson City Monday. The group has a one of a kind, $2 million simulator it says gives you the best idea of how dangerous it is to text and drive. While many distractions can put people’s lives at risk, texting is the most distracting because it involves all three types of distraction: * Visual — taking your eyes off the road * Manual — taking your hands off the wheel * Cognitive — taking your mind off of the driving task”Texting and driving is a responsibility thing,” one program representative said, “all you’ve got to do is to set your cell phone down and focus on the road.”55% of young adult drivers say it is easy to drive and text at the same time, but the simulator helps reinforce the effect one text can have. It only takes 5 seconds to receive a text, and send a text and crash your car. Using a cell phone while driving, whether it is hands-free or not, can delay a driver’s reaction as much as having a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.8%. One way program representatives suggest to kill the temptation to text while behind the wheel: keep your cell phone in your glove compartment.